TemplarKormac
Political Atheist
When the United States admitted Nevada into the Union, Nevada became the Sovereign of its own Land, even if the Feds own portions of it.
He's right, doc.
How can a state be sovereign when 86% of it's land is owned by the government?
In New York v. United States 505 U.S. 144 (1992) the "Take Title" provision of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act, passed in 1985, was deemed unconstitutional. In it, the court ruled that the government cannot commandeer state governments to participate in a federal regulatory program, or as it can be construed, any programs; nor force them to legislate according to it's scheme. This case acknowledges state sovereignty, as granted by the 10th Amendment. Government cannot force states to do anything that violates their constitutional rights. This was also the case in Mack and Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), which ironically dealt a blow to gun control activism.
How is that relevant? The federal government isn't forcing the state of Nevada to do anything at all.
They are. By snapping up most of the land, they have the state by the balls. Land can be used as leverage. This can hold sway over the state's legislative processes concerning land. That's how it's relevant. States aren't sovereign when you own 86% of them. You aren't giving the people much free roam over the state they live in.
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